Russia accidentally downed an Azerbaijan Airlines flight on Christmas Day and then attempted to cover it up, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev claimed Sunday, though the cause of the deadly crash in Russian air space—killing 38 people—is still unknown.
The Azerbaijan Airlines plane was “hit by accident” while flying over Russian territory and there can be “no talk of a deliberate act of terror here,” Aliyev said, according to Azerbaijani outlet AZERTAC.
Aliyev said that “electronic warfare systems caused our plane to go out of control” and that the tail of the plane “was severely damaged” by ground fire.
Some Russian agencies have put forward several false theories about why the plane crashed – including “the explosion of a fuel cylinder” – and have “clearly demonstrated” that Russia was seeking to cover up the incident, Aliyev said, adding: “The fact that “The fuselage is riddled with debris. The holes indicate that the theory of the plane crashing into a flock of birds, discussed through someone, has been completely removed from the agenda. “
Russia apologizes for the twist of fate and admits its guilt, Aliyev said, calling for the culprits to be punished and suggesting that “compensation will have to be paid” to Azerbaijan, as well as to the injured passengers and equipment.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said Russian President Vladimir Putin and Aliyev spoke by phone on Sunday to discuss “several issues” similar to the plane crash, according to Russian state media Tass, without specifying.
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What caused the Azerbaijan Airlines plane crash? Surviving passengers told Reuters it was “obvious the plane had broken up somehow” after hearing loud bangs as the plane approached Grozny, Russia. The Russian Federal Air Transport Agency first blamed the accident on a combination of weather situations and the collision of the plane with a flock of birds. National security spokesman John Kirthrough said the United States had “seen early indications” indicating the “possibility of this plane being shot down via Russian air defense systems. “
In an earlier phone call to Aliyev, Putin “apologized for the fact that the tragic incident occurred in Russian airspace,” according to the Kremlin. Putin claimed that the Russian military fired at Ukrainian drones toward the plane’s intended destination at the time of the crash, but did not say they shot down the plane.
Kazakhstan Airlines Flight 8243 crashed in Kazakhstan while en route to Grozny, Russia, from Baku, Azerbaijan, on Christmas Day. On board were 62 passengers and five crew members, of whom 29 survived and many were seriously injured. An initial investigation through Kazakhstan Airlines suggests that the plane crashed “due to external physical and technical interference,” while other evidence suggests that there was “external interference” with the FlightArray. Some aviation experts blamed Russia, saying it shot down the plane by mistake while targeting Ukrainian drones around Grozny. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Russia each said they were investigating the crash separately.
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